Jim Koch the Billionaire

There's a new member of the billionaire club.

Jim Koch has a new reason to raise a glass of Sam Adams, it made him mega-rich! The Bloomberg Billionaires Index estimates the Boston Beer Company co-founder's net worth is above $1 billion. He is the first person to make a billion off craft beer.

Koch's success also shows how much the craft beer industry is booming. The industry has grown consistently by 10% every year, for the past seven years. As a whole craft beer makes up 6.5% of American beer consumption.

Sam Adams makes up 1.2% of the beer consumption in the country. Boston Beer Company is on pace to sell 3 million barrels of beer this year.